Angels' Mike Trout's reaction to Aaron Judge news shows he's ready to pass the torch

The members of Team USA are looking to redeem themselves in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, and the squad is getting a massive reinforcement in order to do so. Mike Trout struck out against Samurai Japan's Shohei Ohtani in the 2023 WBC Gold Medal Game to secure a loss for the Americans, and that famous at bat now also marks Trout's last moment as the team's captain. Taking his place is the New York Yankees' Aaron Judge, per Team USA's manager/television personality Mark Derosa. Judge has never played in the WBC, and now he will be the captain of both the most valuable franchise in baseball and of the United States of America.

For Trout, 2025 has marked several occasions of things getting taken away from him. On top of Team USA taking away his captaincy, the Angels have moved no. 27 out of centerfield and out of his typical 2-hole in the batting order. The Angels superstar has succumb to myriad injuries over the past four years leading the Angels and Team USA to lighten his load. In fact, it has not even been announced whether Trout will participate in the '26 WBC, as he is probably hoping to simply make it through this season unscathed before making a decision to participate in games that take place in March. However, he has started 2025 strong with six home runs and 14 RBIs in 15 games. However, he has a batting average of just .196 and an on base percentage of .299.

Judge, on the other hand, is coming off a 2024 season in which he won his second American League MVP award and the Yankees made the World Series. He has been the best hitter in baseball thus far in 2025, and truly reminds baseball fans of prime Mike Trout in more ways than one -- namely, his five-tool arsenal and ice-cold demeanor on the field. Much like Trout in the WBC, Judge's team lost to Ohtani's on the biggest stage last year, so he will be looking for retribution for sure if there's a rematch between the USA and Japan once more.

Trout saying "he's the one" with regards to the Yankees behemoth taking his leadership role is admirable. Neither Judge nor Trout were on the gold medal winning 2017 Team USA team, and hopefully the two will team up in order to get the country over the hump this time around. If Trout does suit up, we'll see who plays right field between the two ex-centerfielders. Judge has certainly eclipsed Trout in terms of productivity on the field, and it would not surprise anybody to see Trout cede his outfield spot to Judge like he did with his captaincy. As Bob Dylan once wrote, the times they are a-changin'.

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